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I am talking about these developers making a game with Demon Souls engine/graphics, where you can freely explore towns (ala Oblivion), take on side quests, go looting, level up, buy/sell, explore the world. Without fear of dying and loosing half of your health, mana, etc. and having to beat what killed you before you can go on. A true open world role player you can explore. Having this incredible graphics engine in an open world role player like Oblivion would of been the bomb and I think it would of been a juggernaut in the role playing community.

That'd be awesome, not sure if systems can handle Demons Souls quality graphics in an open world game though.

I am talking about these developers making a game with Demon Souls engine/graphics, where you can freely explore towns (ala Oblivion), take on side quests, go looting, level up, buy/sell, explore the world. Without fear of dying and loosing half of your health, mana, etc. and having to beat what killed you before you can go on. A true open world role player you can explore. Having this incredible graphics engine in an open world role player like Oblivion would of been the bomb and I think it would of been a juggernaut in the role playing community.

It's a nice thought. It'd just be a different game. Probably the closest to what you're talking about are the Witcher games on PC--dark, action-heavy, open, traditional RPGs.

I remember before I'd played Demon's Souls, many folks were describing it as "dark Zelda." That kind of stuck for me. Just toss in some Monster Hunter (item building/collecting) and old-school D&D modules (level design) and you pretty much have Demon's Souls.

That probably why it did so well. It appeals to a litany of old school gamers by taking what worked from so many other games.

To me it was survival horror, pure and simple. Running and avoiding enemies where possible was the best course of action before NG. Saving powerful weapons and items to defeat the overpowered bosses and get out of tight situations. The ever presence of Red Phantoms tracking you down.

I am talking about these developers making a game with Demon Souls engine/graphics, where you can freely explore towns (ala Oblivion), take on side quests, go looting, level up, buy/sell, explore the world. Without fear of dying and loosing half of your health, mana, etc. and having to beat what killed you before you can go on. A true open world role player you can explore. Having this incredible graphics engine in an open world role player like Oblivion would of been the bomb and I think it would of been a juggernaut in the role playing community.

Maybe Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning will come close to what you are looking for. It's made by the llead designer of Elder Scrolls Morrowind and Oblivion, and it's due out in early 2012:

It's a nice thought. It'd just be a different game. Probably the closest to what you're talking about are the Witcher games on PC--dark, action-heavy, open, traditional RPGs.

I remember before I'd played Demon's Souls, many folks were describing it as "dark Zelda." That kind of stuck for me. Just toss in some Monster Hunter (item building/collecting) and old-school D&D modules (level design) and you pretty much have Demon's Souls.

Played Witcher 1 and 2 on the PC. AMAZING games. There were soooo many WOW moments.

We could keep this going all day. The quotation marks go outside the comma and period, so that should actually read: It's "it's," not "its."

It's "The quotation marks go outside the comma and period in the US, so that should actually read: 'It's "it's," not "its."' if you are an upstart colonist who's forgotten proper - and logical - punctuation."

Also, while I loved Demon's Souls' level design and unique take on online play, I spent way too much time doing the same passages over and over and over again. I'm going to have to pass on Dark Souls, and maybe watch an HD playthrough on YouTube at some point. Makes me sad, but there are too many other good games coming out.

It's "The quotation marks go outside the comma and period in the US, so that should actually read: 'It's "it's," not "its."' if you are an upstart colonist who's forgotten proper - and logical - punctuation."

Also, while I loved Demon's Souls' level design and unique take on online play, I spent way too much time doing the same passages over and over and over again. I'm going to have to pass on Dark Souls, and maybe watch an HD playthrough on YouTube at some point. Makes me sad, but there are too many other good games coming out.

Sadly, I'm in the same boat. And it didn't help that I had to restart my Demon's Souls game three times (lost my save twice for different reasons). But really it was when I found myself replaying the same areas over and over and over again just to get enough souls to buy a specific weapon that I realized I wasn't having fun anymore. Flashbacks to the obsessive compulsion of WoW turned me off.

I really want to play Dark Souls, but my sensible self says "no." (or '"no".' for the oppressors among you).

Dark souls is actually almost completely open world according to videos that i've seen, they even mentioned more random enemy spawns so don't pass on this because you think it will be just another crap rehash like a COD sequel. They said the content will be at least 4x the land mass and 2x the weapons that were in demons souls. It will be epic!

...Also, while I loved Demon's Souls' level design and unique take on online play, I spent way too much time doing the same passages over and over and over again. I'm going to have to pass on Dark Souls, and maybe watch an HD playthrough on YouTube at some point. Makes me sad, but there are too many other good games coming out.

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Originally Posted by confidenceman

...Sadly, I'm in the same boat. And it didn't help that I had to restart my Demon's Souls game three times (lost my save twice for different reasons). But really it was when I found myself replaying the same areas over and over and over again just to get enough souls to buy a specific weapon that I realized I wasn't having fun anymore. Flashbacks to the obsessive compulsion of WoW turned me off.

I really want to play Dark Souls, but my sensible self says "no." (or '"no".' for the oppressors among you).

I'm wrestling with this purchase myself. I came nowhere near finishing the game. I think I made it through 3 or 4 bosses only.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sonies

Dark souls is actually almost completely open world according to videos that i've seen, they even mentioned more random enemy spawns so don't pass on this because you think it will be just another crap rehash like a COD sequel. They said the content will be at least 4x the land mass and 2x the weapons that were in demons souls. It will be epic!

That sounds interesting. I haven't kept up much with the news on this game, but have there been many more details regarding online play with friends (PS3). I can deal with no chat, but it would be nice if you could play with a friend a bit easier.

Maybe I didn't play it enough to get it, but I found the whole online element, aside from the leaving messages and watching how people died, a bit cumbersome and confusing on the first game. I think it would be nice if they tuned that up a bit.

I can deal with no chat, but it would be nice if you could play with a friend a bit easier.

They invented the phone in 1876, surely you could call your buddy? If you don't know their number he is not really your friend, he is some social network based pseudo acquittance that everyone calls a friend now a days.

Remember, too, that Dark Souls is a PS3 exclusive in Japan (not that anyone actually owns a 360 in Japan anyway...). So if it's reaching a quarter of a million in a few days on one console in one country, you can figure it'll probably quickly pass the million mark once it gets released worldwide.

Yeah, most pro reviews are little more than a curiosity these days since they sometimes have alterior motives in their write-ups, but it'll be interesting to see how Joystiq score it. I seem to remember how much they whined about Demon Souls because it was too hard for them.

I hate their blub for metacritic where it says "If you just play games for fun, this isn't for you, and no amount of insistence on my part is going to change that..." Come on now. Just because a game is difficult, hard, demented, whatever you want to call it, you always end up playing it because it's fun in some way.

Anyway, still ready for my game to arrive. I've read a bit about it and am curious as to how it all pulls together. Just going by the review it sounds like invading is more of a hassle, but I am sure it will make sense when playing.

ign.com's details on the difficulty of Dark Souls should scare away the casuals. Abandon hope, all ye who enter here:

Quote:

There are frog-like sewer-dwelling creatures that can Curse you with their attacks, instantly reducing your health bar to half its former size; the only way to get cured is to visit a healer hidden deep within a dangerous ghost-populated area that's a long, long journey away (or to buy an item from a vendor, if you've got enough souls).

Making your way through Dark Souls' death-trap world with half a health bar is hard enough, but the Curse effect stacks – so if you get caught again, you'll be down to a quarter of a health bar. A third time, you'll be down to an eighth. I know one Dark Souls player who lost something like 10 hours trying to make it to a healer when everything in the world could kill him with one hit. There's punishing, and then there's unfair.

One of the mid-game bosses, meanwhile, emits corrosive bile that swiftly degrades your equipment if you get stuck in its flow, potentially leaving you standing naked in front of a hideous dragon with a broken sword. There's no way to repair weapons and armor once they've been completely destroyed, so it's possible to lose all your best gear in this battle. Similarly, there are areas in the mid-section of the game where the main challenge isn't overcoming the skinless poisonous demons that live there, but struggling not to get knocked off narrow, precarious ledges by their attacks.

I love the game at first; but the thing that you have to start the game every time you dies reallly pissed me off and I stopped playing it after a week; $60 lost!... Hope this new version at least has 2 checkpoints between levels; and not 0 checkpoints like in Demon's Soul

or you could just go into the level prepared with grasses to cure the curse and use your backup gear... Its probably like the swamp level in 5-2 from demons souls, how hard would that be with no poison resistance gear or no grass to cure?

I love the game at first; but the thing that you have to start the game every time you dies reallly pissed me off and I stopped playing it after a week; $60 lost!... Hope this new version at least has 2 checkpoints between levels; and not 0 checkpoints like in Demon's Soul

Levels in DS were never meant to go through in one trek....

if I got a dollar ever time I backtrack and retreated to the Nexus to level up.